“We obviously believed in the potential of Reach, and of Halo as a franchise, but to make over $200m sales on day one is a staggering result,” director of entertainment and marketing Stephen McGill told MCV.

“The reception the game has received has been phenomenal. Halo: Reach has proved itself to be the biggest entertainment launch of 2010 and the best-selling Xbox exclusive in history.

“In this first week alone over 2,000 human years have already been spent globally playing the campaign and multiplayer, not to mention the Forge and Theatre mode – that’s an utterly incredible.”

MCV is the leading trade news and community site for all professionals working within the UK and international video games market. It reaches everyone from store manager to CEO, covering the entire industry. MCV is published by NewBay Media, which specialises in entertainment, leisure and technology markets.